National Dog Week - VI - Part Three

I like to fancy myself a brave and resourceful sorta' canine, but I don't think I'd make it through any war college for dogs. First off, there's the small matter of crawlin' around and diggin' and gettin' dirty! 'Course they probably didn't get half as many baths as I do, so that's a trade off. And I'm a little short to be a Storm Trooper--oh, wait…wrong movie…

Anyway, when it comes to trainin' real war dogs, everyone says the honor of startin' it all goes to [Lt. Col.] Edwin Hautenville Richardson.

"Richardson, born at the turn of the last century in England, was a noted dog fancier, who during his early studies, rediscovered the early use of dogs by the generals of the ancient Greeks and Romans [and later the French during Napoleon's reign].

"It was also at this time, that he learnt that dogs were being trained for military purposes in a few of the continental armies, which arroused in him a curiosity, that would last a lifetime."

War dogs were everywhere--with the Marines during the banana wars and Spanish-American War of 1898; the Spanish against the Riffs in Morocco; the Bulgarians during the Balkan Wars; the Gurkha's in the Abor Expedition; and the Italians against the Turks, in Tripoli. Britain had some catchin-up to do.



  And once the British got started, there was no stoppin'
  'em. They even used parachutin' dogs with their
  airborne units, 'specially the SAS forces dropped
  behind enemy lines in North Africa and France.

  A caption at the K-9 History site asks "What does a
  dog yell when 'jumping?'" I'm not sure what those
  guys yelled, but if it was me, it would be "Look out
  below" 'cause I'd be dumpin' a load outa' sheer
  terror.


Nope, don't think that's somethin' I'd be interested in doin'.

posted by Harrison at 11:37 PM